my cat is acting out

Question
My cat and I have been together for four years now. Being a college student and I moved around a bit, which he never seemed to mind, until I brought him into my moms house. She has 5 cats of her own. He is a fairly big cat, mostly just fat I think, but bigger than the others. He is fine around the others if they don't bother him, but he lashes out when they come anywhere near him. He hisses, does a deep meow, bites, claws...etc. when I try to pick him up, he also tries to attack me shortly after. I always end up having to put him in a room by himself until an hour or so passes, and then he seems to forget about the entire thing. I don't like keeping him locked up in the room, but I feel it is my only choice, especially when no one is home. Even trying to introduce the cats slowly has not worked. Is there anything at all I can do????

Answer
Hello Hol,

I'm sorry to hear about the problems that you are having.  This is fairly normal behaviour for a cat who is not used to living with others and is suddenly put into a house with lots of other cats in it.  He is lashing out because he is stressed and frightened, and the aggression he is showing towards you is just a side-effect of this rather than him actually wanting to hurt you.

I would suggest that rather than locking him away in a room, you get hold of a large dog cage big enough for a litter box and food, and put him inside this cage in a room where the other cats all go.  If you do this for a few days, he can see the other cats and they can see him but they can't reach each other.  They will all feel safe and get used to the sight and smell of each other without there being any aggression.  After a few days, try releasing him and see what happens.  Make sure you supervise this and if a fight begins, separate the cats with a cushion rather than with your hands so that you are not hurt again.  Then try distracting him with a favourite toy or some food rather than locking him away.  By doing this, you can get him used to the company of the others and make him realise that their presence doesn't need to be frightening or impact on him having a normal life.

Cats in multi-cat households, particularly where there is an established group that they can't easily join, need to have plenty of their own space and facilities so that they can live happily without needing to come across the other cats too often.  Make sure you have enough litter boxes and sleeping places for all the cats so that your cat can get everything he needs without needing to fight for territory with the others.

You could also try a couple of products to calm him down as he is probably very stressed right now.  There is a product called Feliway that looks like a plug-in air freshener but actually emits calming pheromones.  It won't smell of anything to you but will have a huge effect on your cat's stress levels.  You can also try adding a few drops of Bach's Rescue Remedy to his water for a similar calming effect.

In time, you will hopefully find that even if the cats can't become friends, they can at least co-exist peacefully without any fighting.

Very best of luck with this.
Take care
Annie